Carl is the leader Rick should be. I hope Rick dies and his son takes over. Rick's goody two shoes crybaby bs irks me like no other on the show. Fuck him for leaving the old lady on her own.
they will give us, the viewer, a glimpse at that... next season... when we see Rick sick from bullet hole infection, non-responsive and sleeping... and Carl gets his own episode, where the writers say he grows into being a man.
As far as killing off Rick, they'll never do that. Ever. Many people think when the series ends, they'll have Rick awake from his coma, and it was all a dream. Shane hugging him, Lori relieved, Carl still innocent (using CGI or something to make him little again), etc.
Imagine it.................
We would see a breautiful montage for 6 or 7 minutes... seeing how all of the characters from the show, crossing paths in a world where zombies never happened. Michonne late for court, carrying a briefcase. Andrea in her SUV. Philip Governor with his family, happier than we ever saw him. Merle and Daryl laughing and walking with a 12-pack of beer. Dale in his RV, heading camping, beeping and flipping the bird to pizza man Glenn, who cut him off in traffic. Herschell, maggie & family on the farm, smiling and working. Imagine seeing dozens of people from the show... down to the prisoners sitting at lunch in the cafeteria laughing... Heck, we could see many of the most famous zombies killed on the show, just as extras in the background of these scenes. Possibilities would be endless!
They make us fall in love/hate with the characters and they kill most off, eventually. Imagine if the end of the show was this cool montage with amazing music... and we see how all these people lived without zombies. it was all a dream.